The Cornucopia Institute
The number one ingredient in authentic organic is integrity.
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Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Organic agriculture has become a bifurcated industry under the certified organic label: authentic organic farmers provide much of the cleanest and most ethical food in the market and industrial organic operators and brands provide food that meets the minimum requirements of organic certification. Few consumers are aware of this difference in food quality, soil stewardship, and focus on biodiversity. In addition, regulation and government policies often favor agricultural industrialization, to the great detriment of human and environmental health.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Organic Integrity Project
The Organic Integrity Project is our umbrella program with the goal of upholding economic justice for community-scale farming while ensuring an alternative form of food and agriculture that truly supports environmental and human health. The two main initiatives under this program are: policy and industry watchdogging & empowering consumer activism.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of website pageviews
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of return website visitors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of new website visitors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of petition signatures
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Signatures on a proxy campaign pressuring grocery retailers to label hydroponics and provide consumers with info. to make careful decisions at the supermarket, protecting authentic organic farmers.
Number of testimonies offered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Cornucopia acts as a watchdog and an independent reviewer of materials petitioned for use in organics, with staff providing public testimony at annual NOSB (National Organic Standards Board) meetings.
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of reports written/published
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Cornucopia has become a go-to source of information about organic food for committed food activists and family health-oriented consumers alike through our reports, scorecards, and buying guides.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Cornucopia Institute is passionate about defending economic justice for community-scale farmers and ensuring that nutrient-dense, organic foods remain accessible. We work to achieve our mission by engaging in educational and policy activities that amplify the voice of authentic organic farmers and mobilize consumers to uphold the pillars of the organic and local food movement.
The Cornucopia Institute is a national nonprofit farm and food policy research group, respected as one of the most effective voices protecting the good food movement and THE organic industry watchdog. We engage in research and education focused on the integrity of local and organic food. Organic, local, and direct-market agriculture have emerged as economic lifelines for community-scale farms, and are central to creating a food system that is beneficial to environmental and human health.
The global organic sector is expected to reach $262.85 billion in 2022. That growth depends on consumer trust in the organic label. Yet as the organic market has grown to over $50 billion in the US alone, so have greenwashing, price-cutting, and fraudulent practices by some industrial players and factory farm operators. These practices threaten to cheat and alienate consumers while competitively injuring ethical industry participants.
The USDA's National Organic Program is not adequately fulfilling its congressional mandate to regulate and protect the organic label, necessitating Cornucopia's voice to educate and inform organic farmers, consumers, ethical retailers, and the media about threats to strong organic standards.
Through industry watchdog activities and investigations, Cornucopia exposes and puts pressure on government regulators and industrial players that abuse food integrity and ignore the systems that underlie organic agriculture. At the same time, we shine a spotlight on authentic organic farmers and companies that adhere to true organic principles.
When The Cornucopia Institute was founded in 2004, a primary goal of the fledgling organic watchdog was to draw attention to, and rein in abuses from, the rise of factory farm confinement dairy operations in organic agriculture.
Today Cornucopia occupies a unique position within the food movement. We work to defend, protect, and promote what authentic organic farmers, consumers, co-op grocers, ethical companies, and funders have worked so hard to build over the past 40 years: a viable, just, and transparent food system that rewards ethical industry participants, supports sustainable rural communities, and provides access to healthy food for all communities. Through research, advocacy, networking, coalition building, marketplace initiatives, and education, Cornucopia has earned a reputation as an effective voice devoted to the support of strict organic production standards.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Cornucopia's primary methods for achieving our efforts aimed at upholding organic integrity are: research, consumer education, advocacy, and—as a last resort—legal challenge.
In our policy work, Cornucopia employs a combination of tactics. At the regulatory level, we push the USDA for enforcement of strong organic production standards and the closing of regulatory loopholes. We work in the marketplace to educate and empower organic consumers and wholesale buyers with reports and commodity scorecards about which organic brands are produced with ethics and integrity so that they may vote their values through their purchases. And as a last resort, we seek redress on behalf of organic stakeholders in the courts.
Marketplace Activism: Cornucopia has become a go-to source for information about organic food for committed food activists and health-oriented consumers alike. Resulting consumer education and empowerment drives organic market share away from industrial faux-organic to reward committed, authentic organic farms and food processors.
Our popular reports and brand scorecards rate organic and natural brands of eggs, soy foods, dairy, poultry, and other foods and food additives. Our work is viewed by more than 700,000 people annually, including nearly 2.5 million page views.
Organic Policy Watch: Cornucopia acts as a watchdog and an independent reviewer of materials petitioned for use in organic production. The governance of the National Organic Program is increasingly infiltrated by industry that aims to undercut the integrity of the organic label in the interest of scale economies and agribusiness profits. Without a level playing field, community-scale organic farmers cannot compete in a policy environment that favors cost-cutting and large-scale industrial "organic" farms.
The purpose of our Organic Policy Watch project is to ensure that every-day organic consumers and advocates have a voice on a policy panel that has become very industry friendly. Prior to each biannual meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), Cornucopia's policy staff prepares extensive formal recommendations on the agenda for the Board. At each meeting, Cornucopia staff offer expert testimony and also work to ensure that authentic organic farmers provide their testimony.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Cornucopia provides widespread public education on, and promotion of, organics and related food and farm topics. Cornucopia's staff has a unique knowledge base, experience, and expertise to draw on. As a relatively small organization, Cornucopia remains nimble, able to respond to organic policy and industry developments as they arise.
Cornucopia also draws from its widespread membership of concerned farmers, consumers, and other organic stakeholders from across the country.
Cornucopia maintains an active website, which sees as many as 10,000 visits per day, and regularly between 100,000 and 200,000 per month, in addition to more than 150,000 Facebook followers. Electronic communications including a biweekly e-newsletter, action alerts, and news releases reach the inboxes of more than 75,000 organic advocates directly. Our quarterly print newsletter, The Cultivator, reaches more than 8,000 households, including key leaders in the good food movement. Combined with extensive media outreach, Cornucopia's informative communications keep millions engaged in organic policy and industry issues that would otherwise fly under the radar.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
While Cornucopia has been instrumental in bringing public attention to, and action on, issues that determine the integrity of the USDA Organic seal and local marketing channels, the governance of the National Organic Program is increasingly influenced by industry that aims to reshape the organic label in their economic interests.
Cornucopia monitors and reports on the work of the National Organic Standards Board to ensure public accountability. In the past year, we have challenged improper board appointments of agribusiness executives appointed to seats reserved for organic farmers, provided a board member voting scorecard, conducted thorough independent organic material reviews, and offered expert testimony and public facing coverage of NOSB activities. We are committed to continuing this watchdog work.
Both in the marketplace and in the policy arena, Cornucopia's has had an outsized effect over this past decade of operation. Some of our major accomplishments include:
* Following the publication of Cornucopia's dairy report and scorecard, virtually every member-owned food cooperative in the U.S. dropped the Horizon brand.
* Walmart, Target and Dean Foods corrected deceptive product labeling and food advertising after Cornucopia investigations were publicized in the media.
* Kellogg's reformulated their Kashi products as non-GMO and committed to introducing more organic products after Cornucopia's Cereal Crimes report exposed their practices.
* “Organic" factory livestock farms, housing tens of thousands of animals, have lost organic certification for violation of organic rules as a result of Cornucopia's investigations.
* National organic rules require that organic cows must be pastured, not confined to feedlots, as a result of Cornucopia's policy pressure (in collaboration with other groups).
* Jirah Mills lost its organic certification after being exposed fraudulently selling conventional grain as organic as a result of Cornucopia's collaborative effort with farmer-owned U.S. organic grain co-ops and organic farmers in Québec.
* Based on formal legal complaints, USDA investigators found Aurora Dairy willfully violated 14 tenets of federal organic regulations, leading to probation and sanctions. Aurora subsequently paid $8 million to settle a class action, consumer fraud lawsuit alleging misrepresentation of their products.
* DHA/ARA has been removed from Earth's Best infant formula.
* After finding their 365 cornflakes were made from GMO corn, Whole Foods switched to certified organic corn.
In addition, our freely available organic brand scorecards and reports have been downloaded and used by millions of families across the country to reward authentic organic farmers with their families' food dollars. Consumers consult the shopping scorecards when deciding which egg, dairy, yogurt, and other food brands to patronize.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
The Cornucopia Institute
Board of directorsas of 09/20/2023
Cameron Molberg
New Growth Management
Term: 2024 - 2022
Helen Kees
Wheatfield Organics
Ted LeBow
Kitchen Table Consultants
Michael Horenstein
Attorney
Jennifer Taylor
Lola's Organic Farm/Florida A&M University
Nicole Vitello
Equal Exchange
Laura Zaks
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 09/20/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.